美国国家公共电台 NPR--There's a tight House race in a new North Carolina swing district

There's a tight House race in a new North Carolina swing district

Transcript¹

The new district could play an outsized role in which party controls the House of Representatives. We talk to voters about how they see it.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Voters in this fall's elections are choosing 435 members of the House of Representatives. But of all those races, fewer than three dozen are competitive. Voters in those few districts will determine which party controls the House. NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith visited one.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE³: North Carolina's 13th Congressional District runs from the city of Raleigh all the way out into two rural counties. And it's in the fast-growing suburbs in between where Democrat⁴ Wiley Nickel was knocking on doors this past Saturday.

WILEY NICKEL: Hey. How are you? Wiley Nickel. I'm your state senator.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: OK.

NICKEL: Running to be your congressman⁵.

KEITH: Nickel, who is also a defense⁶ attorney, is aiming his pitch at registered Democrats⁷ and people with no party preference listed. At one house, a man answers the door who says he used to be a Republican but changed his registration⁸ because of Trump⁹. He's already voted for Nickel, who walks away energized¹⁰.

NICKEL: And it just takes, you know, a smaller group of folks, you know, in the center, center-right to say, we're tired of it - and we win this race.

KEITH: Bo Hines, the Republican candidate, is a 27-year-old Trump-endorsed former college football player who describes himself as a MAGA warrior¹¹. He spoke¹² last month at a rally the former president held in the state.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BO HINES: We need conservative fighters that will go on offense¹³, take ground back, just like President Trump did during the course of his administration.

KEITH: The Hines campaign declined to comment for this story. Outside of early voting sites in the district, a trend quickly emerges in interviews with voters. Voters, even those not registered with a party, are casting their ballots¹⁵ through a partisan¹⁶ lens. Take Jim Miller¹⁷, who describes himself as fiercely independent and yet says he couldn't imagine sending another Republican to Washington.

JIM MILLER: Hell no to Bo.

KEITH: That is a tagline in one of the ads.

MILLER: Yes, I know. That's why I said it. But, you know, what qualifications does he have? Really, he's just a young guy (laughter). Really, I think he's got a lot of growing up to do.

KEITH: Ted² and Judy White voted for Hines.

JUDY WHITE: Inflation, schools, the wokeness of what's going on, the - all of the people with the violence. Everything's just out of control.

KEITH: They see Democrats as a threat.

J WHITE: Now, I have voted in the past for Democrats.

KEITH: Yeah.

J WHITE: But not this time.

TED WHITE: Not this cycle.

J WHITE: (Laughter) Not this cycle, no.

KEITH: The candidates aren't shying away from this division. They're leaning into it. Here's Hines in an interview that aired on CBS 17 in Raleigh earlier this month.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HINES: This is more than just a political fight. This is spiritual warfare¹⁸. It's good versus¹⁹ evil. I think that you're seeing Republicans come together.

KEITH: Nickel, the Democratic candidate, also gives a stark²⁰ warning about the stakes in this election.

NICKEL: Democracy is on the ballot¹⁴, and the right to choose is on the ballot and is especially important in this race. You know, I've - you know, served my state in the Senate. And on the other side, you know, we've got an election denier who says he's 100% pro-Trump.

KEITH: Hines has said he will accept the results of this election, but he's noncommittal about whether Joe Biden won in 2020 fair and square, which he did. Even in a swing district like this one, there just aren't that many swing voters, says Mike Rusher, a former Republican Party operative in the state who now works with corporate²¹ clients.

MIKE RUSHER: You would have thought that candidates might focus more on those swing voters to make persuasive²² arguments. As we approach the finish line, in hindsight, you know, I think people can see why maybe that's not needed in a year like this.

KEITH: A year when turning out base voters is the key to winning.

Tamara Keith, NPR News, Raleigh, N.C.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

11 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

14 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

15 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

17 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

18 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

19 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

20 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

21 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

22 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。